Damn. This was one of my favorite groups too... RIP man. Been listening to these guys since their first album in 2000 when I graduated high school. I know that still leaves Mike Shinoda, but it was the collaboration between him and Chester that made the group great. RIP man, RIP.

Just going to copy what I said about it elsewhere. I can't type it again.

I can't even begin to express the sorrow I'm feeling right now. For the past 17 years there have been dozens of major life events/memories I associate with their music. It's helped me during rough times, good times, and everything in between. This band is responsible for my brother and I bonding when he returned to the family. The first gift I ever received from Jenn was their first album. My first concert was them. To this day their music is part of my daily life. We were supposed to see them perform at the end of August, for the 4th time.

I know it's stupid. I know it's irrational to feel this way over a celebrity. But I can't help it. It hurts. Now I'll listen to their music to help me cope with the loss. The world is a darker place today. Rest in peace, Chester. You're already painfully missed.

Just going to copy what I said about it elsewhere. I can't type it again.

I can't even begin to express the sorrow I'm feeling right now. For the past 17 years there have been dozens of major life events/memories I associate with their music. It's helped me during rough times, good times, and everything in between. This band is responsible for my brother and I bonding when he returned to the family. The first gift I ever received from Jenn was their first album. My first concert was them. To this day their music is part of my daily life. We were supposed to see them perform at the end of August, for the 4th time.

I know it's stupid. I know it's irrational to feel this way over a celebrity. But I can't help it. It hurts. Now I'll listen to their music to help me cope with the loss. The world is a darker place today. Rest in peace, Chester. You're already painfully missed.

They were not like the other nu-metal bands form the early 2000s, they were different, they talked about REAL problems.
Sad 50% of the soldiers were just for teh metal, and have hated them since Minutes to Midnight.

My brother just told me about this and I felt a little bit more dead inside. Link in Park's music got me through some tough times. Chester, Mike, and all the other guys seemed like such a happy, genuine bunch of guys. I knew Chester had issues in his past but I heard he had moved past them..

It's weird, despite only being a moderate fan of Linkin Park, I ended up having a few brushes with Chester (and Mike) over the years because of design and music. The first time was when they ran a contest to design a CD cover for "Iridescent" from TF3. For shits & giggles, I did one up alongside a poster, made it to the Final 3, and was contacted personally by Chester & Mike together to thank me for the contribution and asked permission to cross post it on their website and all of their social media outlets. Obviously I said yes.

Then a few years later, I did a remix of the Julien-K song "Kick The Bass". Because Chester did some background guest vocals on it (and appeared in the video), him and I communicated a few times from start to completion of the final version of the remix.

I never *knew* him beyond those various exchanges, but he was always just so cool and down to earth. Just an awesome guy that enjoyed what he was doing and was happy (and open) to get contributions from fans. I always respect people like that, even I'm not necessarily a #1 fan of what they do. And of course there's no downplaying the contributions they made to so many things over the years. Chester in particular was always a "real guy" and undeniably had one of THE more unique voices out there. Whether it was Linkin Park or Dead by Sunrise, you instantly knew Chester's voice when you heard it.

It's terribly sad to find out that he was evidently in a lot of pain and had to resort to these measures. He'll definitely be missed.

I remember first hearing Chester's voice watching old Sonic the Hedgehog AMVs with "In The End" playing back in the early years of YouTube. The TF Movie Trilogy theme songs were what made me a devoted fan of the band. I was even thinking of seeing them live at Citi Field this year...

I can't even describe the feelings his voice gave me whenever I head him sing. He was simply amazing. Definitely, one of Alt-Rock's greatest vocalists. Chester will surely be missed and my thoughts are with his family.